The Hamilton's Current Reading List

The last few days I can't get enough reading. Right now I reading what I thought was the last installment of Diane Gabaldon's Outlander series. Upon looking for a link to show any of you who were interested, I found that Gabaldon is currently writing an 8th novel in the series. My friend, Deena, recommended the books right after we lost Tripp. She gave me all 7 published books and I began reading. I have read nothing but these books for the last 10 months, not wanting to start anything else until these are finished. There have been times I can't put the books down and others where I will leave them for weeks without picking them up. That being said, I totally recommend reading them. (As do the 642 ratings on chapters.indigo.ca.) If I did it again, I would just take some reading breaks from the series! Oh and a side note if you do pick up this series. Although it is not a romance novel in the typical sense, there are some "smutty" parts. I am usually not a fan of this type of writing, but in this case the story was so intriguing I let it slide! You have been warned!

Next in line for me is The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. This was a book recommended to me by our counsellor. It is a spiritual read and I know I will write more about it once I get into it. After that - or maybe even during (depending how "deep" The Shack is) - I am going to read, I Don't Know How She Does It: The Life Of Kate Reddy, Working Mother by Allison Pearson which my friend, Delayne, gave to me for my birthday. The Sarah Jessica Parker movie didn't get rave reviews, but I do enjoy "chick lit", so I am looking forward to it.

Hugh doesn't have anything on his reading list right now. He usually is busy reading education "stuff" for the classes he takes (he is working on his Special Education Certificate) or just other education "stuff" for interest's sake. BORING (for you - not for Hugh of course, he loves it. In fact I even like it, because I get the Cole's Notes version in the form of a conversation after! Yes, we are geeky teachers.). At the start of our Christmas Break, Hugh picked up R.A. Salvatore's latest, Neverwinter II. If you are The Lord of The Rings type person, you will love this series. And according to Hugh, the series is never ending because it is about an elf? who lives hundreds of years. Not my type of stuff, but Hugh will read one of Savatore's books in a day!

As for Calder, he is really into anything from the Disney Movie, Cars - including books! He also a pile of "big boy" Thomas the Train books that he got from my Auntie Pat in the fall (a.k.a not board books - these have paper pages and a TON of words!). We read with Calder everyday and are happy to report that he currently has only has a handful of letters of the alphabet left to learn. I would love to say we taught him these, but it is mostly due to my iPad.

I have downloaded a couple of interactive alphabet books that he likes. You turn the page to "D" for example and the books states, "D. Dinosaur". Kids can then press the dinosaur's mouth to hear it roar. Q has a quill that you can write with (I heart Harry Potter), Z has a zipper you can move up and down, etc. He loves these books, but not as much as he loves the app iWriteWords (thanks Erin for showing me this!). This app will show a letter and you have to trace it with your finger. It leads kids through the right way to write and then verbally repeats the letters after they have completed writing it. Yesterday, Calder and I were playing on the floor with some foam letters and on his own he grabbed the K and the Y and traced them perfectly. I was completely impressed. That app will hold his attention way longer that we could doing the same task for a mere $2.99!

Anything good on your reading list?